News

The latest from the Black Country

Interview with Wendyanne Shapiro, Lotus Flower Consultancy

Lotus Flower Consultancy specialises in organisational design, leadership and management development. The company’s services vary from consultancy, design and delivery of training interventions and bespoke solutions. In addition, they provide mentoring and coaching for individuals and teams.

They get invited into small and medium sized businesses as a trusted partner, in various industries and sectors – both private and public, including financial services, healthcare, professional services, education, utility and manufacturing. Working predominately in the UK, the company is now stepping out into European and worldwide markets. Wendyanne explains the firm’s overall mission and what steps they take to achieve this.

“Our primary aims are to drive cultural change and to increase performance and efficiency, through the engagement and enablement of employees. Ultimately, we work with people within a business regardless of role or title and our alignment remains on corporate objectives, performance outputs and outcomes. We operate using a tripartite model, where we look at the individual, the team and the organisation and how to maximise the relationships between the three. An important factor for us is to work with individuals and encourage them to be the best that they can be, here success and results happen as a by-product.”

Whilst legislation can affect business, this has not deterred Wendyanne from continuing to help clients as she explains.

“Access to funding, support from local authorities and a general lack of skill, experience and resources are just some of the changes and challenges affecting our business. It is the ‘people strategy’ that is being most affected across the corporate landscape. We are being asked more often to help with maximising efficiencies and running costs for businesses, and as most people know – training and development is usually the first thing to disappear when finances get tight. We remain steadfast that our service is a long-term investment and that the true value will be realised when businesses have a multi-skilled workforce that is not only compliant and competent but also futureproofed.”

Approximately 90% of Lotus’s business is coming to them direct from client recommendations, therefore the company’s reputation speaks for itself. Wendyanne discusses how Lotus stands out from their competitors.

“We help people to look at their business through a different lens. We are invited in to provide another perspective, to offer the eyes and ears of a critical friend. We want to develop positive business relationships for the long term and become accepted as a part of the team. Rather than listing a portfolio of products we can provide, we prefer to get to know and understand our clients - part of this involves orientation days and chemistry meetings. This enables us to offer bespoke advice and recommendations.”

Brexit and the impact on the economy is a concern for many businesses. However, at Lotus they believe that Brexit could be positive. “In general, the lack of clarity and uncertainty about what exiting means is having an adverse effect on the businesses we work with. Particularly as any change in legislation is likely to affect existing business relationships and will need to be considered for new markets. We are actively working with clients building their business readiness for pending changes, this includes focusing on commerciality, sustaining a competitive advantage, professionalising services and collaborating across differing environments.”

As well as Brexit, Wendyanne discusses the other challenges that Lotus is facing. “A common challenge for us is ensuring we understand exactly what businesses need,” says Wendyanne. “Our role is to act consciously and critically, considering broader aspects of the ever-changing world such as, discrimination, diversity and equality as well as highlighting new generation approaches and thinking. We will consult and challenge to clarify expectations and requirements then design and deliver around that.”

Lotus is looking to grow their portfolio in the future, as well as looking at how they can diversify as an organisation. As Wendyanne says herself, the firm want to remain “big enough to cope yet small enough to care.” With work in the UK and Europe, the firm also has work lined up in the United States and Singapore.

Wendyanne is thrilled to have won this award as she tells us how being recognised in the industry is fulfilling. “We are delighted to have been nominated and recognised for this award. We’ve worked incredibly hard to get our name out there and to be acknowledged in such a highly competitive industry is amazing. The heart of our business has been based across the Midlands so this is a great way of confirming our acceptance in that space. We have always considered that we have a privileged role and honestly love what we do, this award has provided the endorsement that we are doing it right.”

Chamber Patrons

We use cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it. Cookies used for the essential operation of the site have already been set.
To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our Privacy Policy.